By Associated Press January 9 at 1:56 PM QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador’s foreign minister says the country is seeking possible mediation to resolve the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been in asylum at its London embassy for more than five years.Maria Fernanda Espinosa said at a news conference on Tuesday that notable asylum cases in recent years have sometimes required mediation by a third country.Assange has been at the embassy since June 2012 to avoid a Swedish extradition request on a case of alleged rape. While Sweden has at least temporarily dropped that investigation, British officials say they’d still arrest him on charges of bail jumping. Assange also fears a possible U.S. extradition request stemming from the leaking of classified U.S. documents.Espinosa says her country is seeking solutions, saying the situation “is not sustainable.”

QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador has granted citizenship to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after more than five years of living in asylum at the nation's embassy in London, officials announced Thursday.

Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa said officials accepted Assange's request for naturalization in December, and they continue to look for a long-term resolution to a situation that has vexed officials since 2012.

"What naturalization does is provide the asylum seeker another layer of protection," Espinosa said.

Assange's attorney says the warrant has no purpose because he is no longer wanted for questioning in Sweden over alleged sex offenses.

Swedish prosecutors dropped the case last year. But Assange still faces arrest if he leaves the embassy of Ecuador in London, where he has been holed up since 2012. He is wanted for jumping bail and taking refuge in the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden.

Are you able to read this headline? Then you're not Julian Assange. His broadband is unpluggedEcuador puts WikiLeaks boss in digital time-out over commentsBy Shaun Nichols in San Francisco 28 Mar 2018 at 18:50

Supporters of WikiLeaks are sounding alarms as founder Julian Assange has had his internet access cut to his Ecuadorian embassy broom cupboard.

The embassy – based in Knightsbridge, London – said it revoked Assange's broadband connection after he violated a promise not to say, or tweet, anything that would harm the South American nation's relations with the UK.

Ecuador is ready to hand over the WikiLeaks founder to the UK in “coming weeks or even days,” RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said citing her own sources, as prospects of his eviction from the embassy are back in the media.

“My sources tell [Julian] Assange will be handed over to Britain in the coming weeks or even days,” Simonyan wrote in a recent tweet which was reposted by WikiLeaks. “Like never before, I wish my sources were wrong,” she continued.

Simonyan's message comes, as speculations Ecuador is in talks with the UK over the future of Assange are back again in British press. Earlier this week, the Times reported Britain is locked in top-tier discussions with the Ecuadorians in a bid to remove Assange from their London embassy.

Sir Alan Duncan, the Foreign Office minister, is said to be spearheading the diplomatic effort. Sources close to Assange said he himself was not aware of the talks but believed that America was putting “significant pressure” on Ecuador, including threatening to block a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if he continues to stay at the embassy.

The Times report comes just weeks before a visit to the UK by the newly-elected Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno, who has labeled Assange a “hacker”, an “inherited problem” and a “stone in the shoe.”

There have been other worrying signs indicating Assange is steadily becoming a troublemaker for Ecuador. In late March this year, the Ecuadorian government has suspended Assange’s communication privileges with the outside world, cutting off his Internet connection at the embassy.

The move was sparked by Assange’s alleged breach of an agreement to refrain from interfering in other states’ affairs. Previously, he blasted the Spanish government for cracking down on the Catalan independence movement.

Wikileaks Julian Assange could be removed from the Ecuador Embassy in London “imminently.” He has been there six years, in an attempt to avoid extradition to Sweden or the US. His health is failing.

LONDON – Julian Assange will be kicked out of the Ecuadorean Embassy in London – where he has lived in diplomatic isolation since 2012 – “imminently,” a source has told The Times of London.CNN reports that Downing Street is in “ongoing” discussions with Ecuador and the United States over his fate.

Both Ecuador and Britain want to ensure Assange remains unharmed. But their suspicion is that US prosecutors have a sealed indictment against him and will extradite him to America, where he faces prison if convicted of charges related to the publication of US documents that were subject to national security secrecy protections. CNN said:[....]The Times said Assange could be evicted from the Embassy at any moment. A member of Assange’s support team said that he might leave in “hours, days or weeks.”

Ecuador Will Imminently Withdraw Asylum for Julian Assange and Hand Him Over to the U.K. What Comes Next?Glenn GreenwaldJuly 22 2018, 4:17 a.m.

Ecuador’s President Lenín Moreno traveled to London on Friday for the ostensible purpose of speaking at the 2018 Global Disability Summit (Moreno has been using a wheelchair since being shot in a 1998 robbery attempt). The concealed actual purpose of the president’s trip is to meet with British officials to finalize an agreement under which Ecuador will withdraw its asylum protection of Julian Assange, in place since 2012; eject him from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London; and then hand over the WikiLeaks founder to British authorities.

Moreno’s itinerary also notably includes a trip to Madrid, where he will meet with Spanish officials still seething over Assange’s denunciation of human rights abuses perpetrated by Spain’s central government against protesters marching for Catalonian independence. Almost three months ago, Ecuador blocked Assange from accessing the internet, and Assange has not been able to communicate with the outside world ever since. The primary factor in Ecuador’s decision to silence him was Spanish anger over Assange’s tweets about Catalonia.

I DO NOT want to see any harm come to Julian Assange, in fact I think he deserves some sort of Medal for services to The AMERICAN PEOPLE since he revealed some of the truth about Crooked Hillary and the corrupt DNC ahead of the election... such that the voters were made aware of important facts before they voted.

However.... Assange's position as a PRISONER is not sustainable or desirable. I hear his health is deteriorating. He has no access to internet etc and so his conditions are worse. What would be ideal is that he be FREED from "prison", and all legal issues resolved. The legal process does not look like ever resolving while he is locked up, so his eviction from the Ecuadorian Embassy is an essential first step... provided his safety is assured, and he gets "Justice" as opposed to vindictive legal persecution.

As far as I know he is "good to go" in Sweden.. no charges pending? His charges in UK relate to "jumping bail" in regards the Sweden stuff.. so should be moot/quickly resolved? There remains any charges laid in USA.. and then application for extradition? I hope US authorities dismiss all that nonsense... or at least he is acquitted in a US court? If all else fails... Pardoned by Trump.

_________________Do not go gentle into that good night.___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

The US Senate Intelligence Committee has asked Julian Assange to give evidence on what he knows about Russian influence in the US election – and the WikiLeaks editor is said to be “considering the offer”.

If he agrees, and the interview takes place, it is likely to focus on Assange’s role in publishing Democratic Party emails that were allegedly hacked by Russian military intelligence then passed on to WikiLeaks.[......]According to the official WikiLeaks Twitter account, which was run by Assange until the Ecuador cut off his internet access earlier this year, the Senate committee sent a letter on August 1 asking Assange to make himself available for a “closed interview… at a mutually agreeable time and location”.

Julian Assange Went After a Former Ally. It Backfired Epically.WikiLeaks’ founder tried to retaliate against hacktivist hero Barrett Brown and prompted a crack-up at a whistleblower protection group, losing an asset in an extradition clash.Spencer Ackerman08.13.18 8:15 AM ET